Stella McCartney in the ‘fresh’

It is now Stella’s turn to act the muse. I’ve always been fond of her fresh, playful kind of approach to fashion, with its ever-present sense of ease and cool. When putting together what I found to be the most interesting pieces from her spring and resort collections, there a few things that I noticed that sort of made me pause and think. First of all, as much as I love Stella’s clothes, I found her debut (2002) collection pretty uninspired. I would even go as far as to call it simply bad. It just seems so gimmicky and even vulgar. All the risqué slogans left an unpleasant taste in my mouth and made me wonder “why.” Well, in Stella’s defence, it was her first collection as an independent designer and this might have been her attempt at making her entrance with a bang (regardless of how big a flop it might have proven to be). At least our girl takes risks, right?

There is something else though. As I was looking over her spring “oevre,”  I couldn’t help but notice how many of the garments called for exposure of the models’ breasts. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with a little haute nudity here and there, but I feel that it should serve some aesthetic purpose. In Stella’s designs it often looks more like a wardrobe malfunction. I understand if there is a delicate sheer blouse involved, but I feel that if a blazer lets it all hang out it’s not made well. This might make me a little old-school, but I still believe that unnecessary exposure is just another gimmick on the part of the designer that makes both the wearer and the viewer cringe inside.

Aside from these two observations, I feel that Stella’s work is sensational. I especially love her Resort 201o collection (balloon pics). I would literally wear its every piece with intense enjoyment; it’s sheer perfection.